Old friends, old foes
by majobloem
Summary: They just have beaten the commet and think everything is perfect, but what if old friends and old foes return? What if the girls realise they don't know as much of each other as they thought they did? rated T for some language and themes
1. prologue

Old friends, old foes.  
Epilogue

_Will's POV_

I couldn't believe how quick this all had gone by. The girls had defeated the comet, Lewis had returned and I got my sister back. How much better could my life have gotten? Okay, it had been a shame that Zane had to close down the café and that we had to find a new spot at the mainland to hang out, but I thought that there were worse things than that. I was also glad for Rikki: Zane finally got over their break-up and they were just friends now. My sister still wanted more from him but he just didn't love her back. Why can be romance just so complicated? I really felt sorry for all those who aren't as lucky as I was with Bella. I really had someone who I loved and that loved me back. And this had been already for 1 month. To celebrate this, I wanted to give her something special, she just deserves it after what she's been through the last year.  
So I had planned a romantic evening for us. I texted Bella to see me here and was now waiting for her to arrive. Really nervous. She could be here any minute. But while I was waiting something strange happened. At that moment, everything I thought to know about friends would changed.


	2. Chapter 1

Old friends, Old foes.  
Chapter 1

_Will's POV_

While I was waiting, I heard voices that came from the entrance. I tried to recognize them, but I just couldn't. A woman and a man. Who could they be? I heard they were coming closer and ran to a coin where they hopefully wouldn't find me. It was the woman who entered first. She looked pretty: long blonde hair, thin, mid twenties. Behind her was a man: tall, expensive shirt, 40 years old, dark hair, lightly bolding. Then the woman started talking. "You told me you never gave up your project to make something special of this place? So you think those girls are still coming here?" The man nodded. "Absolutely, my source confirmed it. Those girls are still special and worth a fortune. I want them to be the main act of my amusement park." The woman looked curious. "And how are you planning to get them to corporate" she asked. "Well, let's just say I have a few ideas." Then they both laughed at each other and left the cave.  
I came out of my hiding spot. Who were they? What were they doing here? And how did they know that the girls are special? While my head was pounding of the adrenaline of the latest moments and of the questions, a familiar head popped out of the water.  
"So tell me. What was so urgent that I had to come here right away?" Bella asked me. I startled. "Oh, hi sweaty. Sorry I got lost in my thoughts." "Apparently you did. Yes." Bella smiled, probably because I looked shocked. "So, what was the emergency?" she asked.  
I smiled confused, still trying to figure this all out. "Well, euhm… I actually had planned a surprise for us tonight because we are 1 month together, but something has come up, I think." "What do you mean? Something bad happened?" She seemed worried. I nodded, pulled her out of the water and while she was drying off, I told her what I just heard.

By boat, we went to the mainland again and Bella called Lewis. I heard her talking nervous to the phone. "Hi Lewis, it's Bella. – Something strange happened tonight. I need to see you and Cleo as soon as possible. It's really important. – Oh, okay. Then I and Will go to Cleo's house. See ya." She put her phone back into her pocket and looked at me. "Apparently Lewis is with Cleo since they weren't allowed to go to the Moon Pool tonight. Guess by whom?" The only thing I could do was smile. "I just didn't want to have them around tonight. They knew I planned a surprise for you." "Yeah, well wathever. There are more important stuff right now. We have to find out who those people were. Come on, let's go to Cleo's."  
We climbed back into my boat and headed to the jetty at Cleo's house. They were waiting for us in the garden. "What's going on that so urgent? By the way, weren't you two planning a romantic dinner tonight?" Cleo asked. I nodded. "Yeah, we were. But while I waiting for Bella at the Moon Pool I saw two strangers at the cave. Luckily I could hide, so they haven't seen me, but I'm wandering who these people are and what they were doing there." I told them what the two strangers had said to each other.  
"An amusement park?" Lewis asked. "I don't know anything of a park at Mako. Do you Cleo?" My brown-haired friend shook her head. She didn't have a clue either. "But maybe…" She seemed thinking for a second. "Maybe we can ask Rikki. I think it's worth a try." We all nodded. It was a small chance, but it definitely was worth a try. I took my cell and speed dialed Rikki. I turned on the speaker so everyone could hear her.  
Rikki answered the phone in a way only she could. "What's up Will? I thought you were having a nice dinner with Bella, or did she dump you?" "First question: no. Second question: no. Something just came up. Something important." I told my story for the third time and asked her if she knew anything of an amusement park at Mako Island.  
"You maybe don't, but I do." Rikki said. "And if this is, what I think it is, it's not gonna be good." "What do you mean?" I asked. She made me curious and nervous at the same time. "Not on the phone. Give me then minutes to get to Cleo's. I'll explain it there. "

_Rikki's POV_

I hoped I was wrong. I hoped this wasn't going to be like the time before. I hoped that bitch didn't come back. I went to Cleo's house as soon as I could. It was Kim who opened the door and she told me my friends were all upstairs. I knocked on the door of Cleo's room and heard "come in", so I entered. When I told my friends what I was thinking, Cleo's face expressed what she was thinking_: Oh no, not again_.


	3. Chapter 2

Old friends, old foes.  
Chapter 2

_Cleo's POV_

When Rikki started revealing her guess it sounded like a nightmare. This couldn't be true, it would be impossible that she returned. But at the same time it all sounded so logical, it had to be the right conclusion. I pondered every word she'd said last night.

_*~* Flashback *~*_

"I only know one person who wanted to turn Mako into a resort and an amusement park in the past. Harrison Bennet. None of you were at that lunch, but he sounded quiet assured of his case. And Bennets don't give up quickly when they want something. Think of how long Zane tried to get me back after our break-up. " Rikki told.  
"Wait. Who is Harrison Bennet? Is he family of Zane?" Bella asked. "His father." Rikki answered. "2 years ago, when I was dating Zane the first time, he hold a lunch where he uncovered his ideas to turn Mako into some resort. After he hired some marine biologist, Dr. Denman, who discovered that we are mermaids. With the help of Miss Chatham, we fooled them and let them think that we gave up our powers." Rikki continued her story.  
"You've dated Zane twice?" was all Will could ask. Bella slapped him and said. "Yes, she did but that's not really the point, is it?" She turned back to Rikki. "Who's this Miss Chatham and how did you fool them?" Lewis told this part of the story, since he wanted to have his credits too "Miss Chatham was a former mermaid, she was one 50 years ago. She's helped us several times with a full moon. We were lucky it was a lunar eclipse the night that Denman had captured them. By jumping in the Moon Pool the girls lost their powers 12 hours and escaped."  
"How can we fight them off this time?" Will asked. "No idea." Rikki answered disappointed. "And we're still not sure that it's really them. I hope I'm wrong."

_*~* End Flashback *~*_

I came back to reality when I heard a knock on my door. "Come in." I said. It was Samantha: breakfast was ready. I said I'd be there in a minute. Sam left the room and I sighed. Why had everything become so complicated since the day I first met Rikki. There had been great moments as well, but sometimes I wished this never happened. And this was such a moment.

_Rikki's POV_

I knew easily how to find him. Since Zane had to close down the café, he hang out Nate and the rest of his buddies near the motocross field. I saw them sitting down at a table at the cafeteria. It was Nate who saw me first, he poked Zane and my ex-boyfriend looked up. He stood up and came towards me. "Hi Rikki. What's up?" he asked. "Why would something be up?" I asked. "Come on, we've been dating for nearly 2 years. I start to know ya. I can see it in your eyes, Rikki. No matter how secretive and closed you are, your eyes always tell the truth, they just do." He said.  
Why was it that this guy knew me so well? Why can't I keep anything a secret anymore from him? "Your dad, that's what's up." I answered after a little silence. He looked like he wasn't really surprised.

"Is it true what I've heard?" I asked Zane. "That depends on what you've heard." He answered. "Is it true that your dad is going through with his plans of 2 years ago. That he wants to turn Mako in some Holiday Resort." I spoke again. "What?"

_Zane's POV_

This couldn't be happening. Was my dad really gonna turn Mako into a resort? "Where did you hear that?" I asked her. She told me about Will and the2 strangers he'd seen in the cave, and then about the conclusion she'd made up. It sounded reasonable. It's sounded totally like my dad would do that.

"Is it true you're gonna change Mako into a resort?" I asked my father. After what Rikki had told me I went straight home – I even didn't say goodbye to the boys – and confronted my dad with the story. "No, not a resort, an amusement park." My dad answered superiorly. "Whatever. And doctor Denman, is she back too?" I asked. He nodded, almost unremarkable. He turned his head and looked straight in my eyes. "You should understand this Zane. For already 2 years you've got the key to make a lot of money and you've just wasting my money on a café that had to shut down after 11 months."  
"What key to make money?" I asked him. I wandered how much he knew about Rikki and the others. "The blonde rebel-girl. What was her name again? The one that broke up with you, oh come on, you know who I mean… Nikki her name was, I think?" He smiled like he had it all. "Rikki, you mean." I said offended. "Why would Rikki make a lot of money?" I asked, even though I already knew he knew the truth. "I think you know why. One day, Zane, you'll thank me. One day you'll understand that I'm all doing this for you, for your fortune."  
Now he just made me furious. "I don't want your kind of fortune. My fortune is with my friends, not with your money. I'm out of here." I yelled. I turned my back on my father and ran out of the door. I heard him scream my name, but I didn't react.


	4. Chapter 3

_Rikki's POV_

My dad was out of town a few days for his job. I was watching _Die Hard 2_, when there was a knock. I startled and calmed down when I realized someone was at the door. Why had there to be somebody at the door right now, just when the movie came to the good part? I stood up, opened the door and saw Zane standing in front me. "Can I come in?" was the only thing he said. I did a step aside, so he could enter, closed the door and waved my hand towards the couch. "You can take a seat." I said. Then there was a long, awkward silence.  
"I ran away." Zane said to me. "What? Why?" I asked anxious. "Why would you do that?"  
"Because you were right. My dad is a jerk. My dad is planning to built an amusement park at Mako. Denman is back. And he knows about you. They both know about you." "How does he know?" I asked. "I don't know." He said. Then again, there was a long, awkward silence.  
"You can stay here for tonight, I mean if you want to. My dad's out of town, so…" I said. "Okay." He answered.  
'Till 4 o'clock in the morning we watched _Die Hard-movies_ and then both turned in (in 2 different beds of course). I haven't slept much that night. I had puzzled all night over Harrison and Denman.

When I woke up the next morning, I found Zane sitting at the kitchen table with a cup of coffee in his hands. "Good morning" he said and smiled. "it's extra-strong. You want one? You look like you've slept as much as I did last night. And for me, I haven't had much." I just nodded.

I called Cleo, Lewis, Bella en Will. A quarter later we were all sitting at my kitchen table and were discussing what we'd best do. Everyone had his own ideas, but there weren't really good ones. Until Lewis said something: "Maybe Denman and Harrison Bennet know it from someone of our past. Like…" "Like who?" Cleo asked. "Like Charlotte or Ash." Lewis answered.  
"Who are they?" Will and Bella asked in unison. "Ash was Emma's boyfriend. And Emma is an old friend who changed along with me and Cleo. And Charlotte is Lewis' ex-girlfriend. They both know about mermaids. But I don't think Ash would tell anyone. I'd rather think of Charlotte who'd tell the world the truth about us." I said. Cleo nodded, she totally agreed with me. "Wow, I didn't know so many persons did know about you, guys." Will said. He looked at Bella. "How many people found out about you, before you came living here?" "Oh,… one." He whispered like she didn't want to admit it. "Who?" I asked. "You said nobody knew about you."  
"My ex-boyfriend found out by accident. But he'd never tell anyone. I swear." She defended her old friend truly. "How can you be so sure about that?" I asked her a little agitated because she never told us this. "I just do." Bella screamed with tears in her eyes. Will saw this and asked her. "Hey Bel, are you okay?" "No." She shook her head. She fought her tears and whispered quietly. "The reason I know, Rikki, is because… It's because my boyfriend died in a car-crash 2 years ago."  
"Sorry Bella. I didn't know that. I… 'm really sorry." I apologized. "It's okay." She said.

_Bella's POV_

Why did Will have to ask that? What happened with Mike is my sorrow, not theirs. It's not something they have to know about. And why are my tears still coming, why can't I stop them? In my mind I saw the whole crash again. I don't think I have to tell them I saw it happen. It's none of their business, not even Will's. I came back to reality when I felt Will's arm around me, he was trying to comfort me. I said it was okay and wiped away my tears. We had more important stuff going on right now.  
"So what are we gonna do now?" I asked to change the subject. "I'm gonna call Charlotte, Ash, Emma, Louise and Max. Maybe they know more." Lewis suggested and before I or Will could ask anything, he continued talking. "Louise is the first name of Miss Chatham and Max is an old friend of her, who we've met a few times and knows are secret too."  
Will laughed at Lewis and asked. "Maybe you better can make a list of who DOESN'T know." We all laughed and went home, hoping Lewis would let us know from the moment he knew something.

1 hour later we were all at the cave at Mako Island. Lewis spoke. "Ash is still in England, he hasn't told a soul and neither did Louise or Max. They all assured it to me. Louise did warn me that you'd better stay _low-profile_ at the moment, so no mermaid-magic if you don't have to. No swims to Mako, not using your powers and stay away from water as far as you can." Lewis looked to Cleo and me. When his eyes came across Rikki's he asked. "Understood?" Rikki felt insulted. "Hey, you don't have to look at me like that. I got the point, don't worry. _Low-profile_, understood." She said to him.  
"What about Charlotte and Emma?" Cleo asked. "I've tried to call them both several times, but they didn't pick up their phones. So I don't know about them. We'll have to try to reach them later." Lewis said. "Excuse me? WE?" Rikki reacted. "I surely want to try to reach Emma, but you can call Charlotte. You're the one who pulled her in, into this secret." "Okay, no problem. I'll try to contact Charlotte." Lewis gave in.  
"Why was Lewis the one who pulled this Charlotte into the secret?" I asked. Rikki laughed and started to tell their history with Charlotte, with a lot spot in it towards Lewis. I almost felt sorry for him how Rikki mocked with him at this moment.

Afterwards I swam to shore and walked home. When I came home my parents were sitting at the table and called my name. "Bella, come take a look who's here!" "Okay, I'm coming." I yelled back. What was so important that I had to go to the kitchen? I entered the kitchen and felt like I had been nailed to the floor.


	5. Chapter 4

_Bella's POV_

OH MY GOSH! "What are you doing here?" I asked my old friend. "I thought you'd be happy to see me." He answered. "I am, it's just I'm also surprised. A lot. Why haven't you called?" I said. "I wanted to surprise you and apparently I did. So my plan worked." Joe laughed at me. I could bearly smile back at him. What was Joe doing here? Especially now, with all the problems going on. And now that my friends knew something about Mike, they would find out the whole truth soon enough. And I don't know if I'm ready for that.

We went to my room to catch up about what happened with each of us the last 2 years. Joe was 2 years older then me and just had graduated when Mike's accident happened. He told me had accomplished his 2nd college year, he studied marine biology_. Hey, was this a coincidence?_ He told he was doing research in the Gold Coast this summer with a famous marine biologist. I asked him: "Who?" "Her name is Linda Denman. She's busy right now on some secret project. For now, she even didn't tell me about it. But she says it's huge!" He spoke very enthusiastic about it and tried to smile. _Maybe this could come in handy_?

_Cleo's POV_

It had been 24 hours now that we were trying to reach Emma. We were able to contact Charlotte, she'd sworn that she'd nothing to do with this, and we believed her, even Rikki had to admit that she seemed honest. But Emma still didn't answer and I really started to worry. She didn't pick up the phone if we called her, she didn't answer any of our text messages and didn't e-mail us. Why would she do that? I just hope nothing bad happened to her.  
This morning I remembered something that could help us. Emma had told me 2 weeks ago, in an e-mail, that she and her family were planning of coming back to the Gold Coast in a coupla weeks. But she'd first go to England, to see Ash a few days, while her parents and Elliot would be in Sydney for her father's job.  
I immediately called Lisa. She told me that Emma had been missing a week ago. Because she'd been in shock the first days, she'd forgotten to let us or Ash know. She asked me if I could tell this to Rikki, Lewis and Ash, so I did. I called everyone up and said they had to come to my place. In the meantime I called Ash to tell him the news. She started crying at the phone and I wished I was in England to comfort him, he sounded devastated.  
"Guys," I started talking, "this morning I had an idea. Since Emma wasn't available the last 48 hours I called her mother, Lisa. And what she told me, isn't…" I couldn't finish my sentence, it was too hard for me. I felt the tears burning in my eyes and tried to stop them, but I couldn't. They just started run down my cheeks. I took a little breath and stammered. "Emma has gone missing, while she was with her family in Germany. That's been a week now. They have no idea where she could be." "ugh, that's impossible. Cleo, are you serious. Is our friend missing?" Rikki looked at me like she'd seen a monster. I nodded, while still trying to stop my tears.  
There was a long silence, nobody knew what to say. Then all of a sudden, Rikki jumped of her chair. "I'm gonna get that bastard! He went to for now!"

Rikki's POV

I couldn't believe what Cleo just said, I wouldn't. The first minute it looked like my brain was frozen, but then it started thinking, like my own life depended on it. I knew it. It was that monster of a Bennet. Harrison, he probably kidnapped her because he found out that we're still mermaids. I jumped of my chair and yelled. I was so angry that if he had been here right now, I'd probably burn him alive. Just to make him suffer, because he hurt my friend.  
"Who?" asked Will. Oh right, I hadn't explain it yet to my friends what I just had figured out. "I think it's Harrison that kidnapped Emma, because he found out that we're still mermaids." "But why would he just take her, and not us?" Bella asked me. "He probably hasn't took you, because he doesn't know about you. He just knows it about Emma, Cleo and me. But I have no idea why he just would take her and leave us alone." I said.  
"I might have an idea." Zane said. We all looked at him."I know my father. He told me indirectly he knows about Rikki and Cleo, he knows I'd warn you and that you then would go after Emma. It's been a trap for you, and I just let you into it." "No Zane, you didn't. You did the right thing. You did, what you had to do. Now it's up to us to save Emma and get rid of Denman. But we have a one advantage and that is Bella." I encouraged the group. Then Bella spoke. "Maybe there's something else we could use as an advantage. But first I have to tell you guys something about my past."


	6. Chapter 5

_Bella's POV_

I knew I had no way back now. I took a breath to encourage myself a little, because I was scared of their reaction. I hope they wouldn't exclude me from the group or something like that. Then I started talking.  
"You know I told you about the crash of my boyfriend. I've never told you this before because I never really got over it, because I'm ashamed of what happened that night. Mike was my boyfriend and one evening we had an argument at my place. He lived a few blocks further than me at the time. So, when we were fighting I yelled at him that I hated him. But I never meant it or anything. When I yelled that, he turned around and walked out of my house. He drove away on his bike as quick as he could. I immediately regretted what I just said and took my bike to overhaul him to say I was sorry." My tears were coming again, but now I didn't do anything to stop them, I just let them come. But I continued with my story. "I screamed his name while I was cycling behind him, I screamed I was sorry. I screamed that several times. At a moment he looked behind him, right into my eyes. And then I saw a car coming from an access. And before I could yell anything at Mike to warn him, the car hid him so hard, he 'd been dragged to the other side of the street. I jumped of my bike and ran to Mike. I took him into my arms and he opened his eyes. 'I already forgave you the moment I walked out of your house.' He said to me. I started crying and whispered I loved him. And then he stopped breathing. He died in my arms and I don't know how to handle that." Now I just started crying hysterically.  
"Sshhtt…" Will tried to comfort me. "We won't let you down for that, never. It's not your fault that it happened, it just did. It will be alright."  
"I'm sorry I'm asking this right now Bella, but how is that supposed to help us with Bennet and Denman. I don't see the link." Rikki said. I looked at her, trying to calm down. "Yesterday, I saw an old friend back. Joe, Mike's older brother. He told me he's working this summer with Denman. He studies also marine biology. And I lied a little the other day. It's not only Mike who found out about my tail. Joe also caught me once, while I was using my magic, so I told him everything. I know we can trust him, tell him what's going on."  
"What if he isn't, what if he is the one that told Denman about mermaids?" Will asked me. I shook my head. "No, then Denman would have came after me, instead of Emma." "Okay, true." Will admitted. "But we still don't know how they found out." "It doesn't matter. We just have to get Emma out of there." I said.  
"I don't know how yet, but we'll find a way." Lewis said. "But we have indeed 2 advantages we should use in our plan to get Emma out of there." Then I smiled, knowing that this would turn out alright, one way or another it would.

That evening I called Joe, asking him if he could come over the next day. He'd be there at 10, but appeared 10.25. "I'm sorry. I was busy at the lab since 7 o'clock and lost track of time. I'm really sorry." He apologized. But he gave immediately a good direction for our conversation. "What are you working on at the lab?" I asked it with an interested voice, he may not got a clue where I wanted to go to.  
"We're doing research about starfish near Mako Island. Have you been there yet? It's an amazing place! Especially diving there is like you've got into another world." He told me anxiously. You could immediately hear he loved his job and now I was supposed to ask him for help and to betray Denman. I started doubting my own plans. Would he ever be willing to help us all the way?  
I nodded. "Yes, my boyfriend Will has took my there a few times to go diving. He's a free-diver. He used to be a real champion, but quit a few months ago." "If he was so good, why would he quit?" Joe asked. "Well he dives because he loves it, not for the money or anything. It's a true passion for him. Like for you your biology-thing is." I answered. This was going into the right direction and I smiled at myself. "Who says I'm passionate by biology?" He asked me cocky. "Oh come on, I know you long enough to know such things. Your voice says enough to me." He nodded and we both smiled.  
"So if you and your boyfriend have been swimming together, he knows your _different_?" Joe asked seriously. "Yes he does. But he's not alone. I've made some really great friends here, I've kinda told them my secret." Joe looked confused at me and said: "Why would you that? You were freaking out when I caught you when you were using your magic. You were afraid to tell me, only one person ànd a good friend. And now you've told it how many people?"  
This conversation was going to right where I wanted it to go. Now I just had to push it all the way. "I don't know exactly how much people now here about mermaids. I don't know to how many people my friends have told this." Now his eyes were wide open, because of what he just heard. He probably couldn't believe this really. "Wow, great friends. They just tell your secret to everyone or what?"  
Now it was time for the final stroke. "Not my secret, but OUR secret. They're just like me, even from before I met them." I said.


	7. Chapter 6

_Bella's POV_

Joe must have gone crazy in his head. He already went crazy when he first knew about me. To make him believe that it's true what I told him, I 'kidnapped' him to Will's shed. Lewis, Will, Cleo, Rikki and I agreed yesterday that we would see each other there right after I had told Joe.  
At the shed, we showed him our powers and Cleo and Rikki showed him theirs tales. Rikki was still a little suspicious of Joe and used her own way to make clear that he'd better told anyone, just for his own sake. (She threatened him by saying she'd burn him alive if he told anyone and from seeing his face I could tell he got it.) But now we were getting to the critical point and I hoped - I prayed - he would agree to our plan. I explained him everything and I was surprised he didn't interrupt me once.  
"Joe listen, I…,or better we didn't tell you this all just because. No, there's a reason. We need your corporation on something. Something big. Cleo and Rikki already know Denman. Denman found out 2 years ago that they were mermaids and captured them, along with their mermaid-friend Emma. They could trick her and let her believe that they weren't mermaids anymore, so she'd let them go. But now we have very good reasons to believe that Denman is back for them (and maybe also for me) and that she as captured Emma again. Probably that's her big, secret project she's working on, of which you told me. We have a plan to release Emma and to get rid of Denman, but we need your help to make this plan work. We can't do it without you. So, now I'm asking you: are you willing to help us to release our friend Emma?"  
Joe looked at him with disbelief. And then to Cleo, Will, Lewis and Rikki. And then back to me. "You want me to betray my boss? Why should I?" He sounded agitated. It made me feel unsure. "Because you're my friend." I said.  
For a minute it was quiet. Nobody said or did anything. We were just all looking at Joe, waiting for his reaction. Then he nodded. "Okay." He said quietly. "What do I have to do?" I smiled at him. For him, this was enough to know, that I was him genuinely thankful.

Joe's POV

The past hour Bella and her friends had thrown a lot to my head. It was at least for me a lot to swallow. I didn't really know what to do, particularly when that Rikki threatened me to burn me. That was a little scary, I didn't know Bella associated with such violence people. It was a side of her that I didn't really know. And now they were asking my help, they wanted me to betray my boss. I had no idea why Bella asked me such thing. "Because you're my friend." She said. She sounded so insecure, so vulnerable. Normally Bella's happy and bubbly and self-secured. If she was so insecure, she must be in some serious shit. She trusted me with her secret, maybe it's up to me now to return the favor. I agreed on helping them and saw Bella smile. This had definitely given her some hope again.

_*~* Two days later *~*_

_Joe's POV_

It was time for action, but God I feel so nervous. I don't know if I can do this. "Come on Joe. I know you can do this." Bella encouraged me. She knew me so well. I took a deep breath and entered the building. I hoped my nerves weren't going to betray me.  
"Good morning Gwendolyn. Has Dr. Denman already arrived? I need to see her, I've found something important." I said to Gwendolyn, Dr. Denman's personal secretary. "Good morning Joe." She smiled at me. She had absolutely no clue of what I was up to. "No, Dr. Denman hasn't arrived yet. She had a meeting with some Mr. Bennet this morning. She'll arrive around 11,she said." Gwendolyn told me. I nodded. "Okay. I'll talk to her later. Oh and before forget to tell you. I have an appointment with Bella Heartley and Rikki Chadwick this morning. She can be here any sec. Will you send her to the lab please?" I asked sweetly. The secretary nodded. "No problem, Joe." "Okay, thank you. Bye."  
Perfect. I texted Bella she could enter the building.

A few minutes later Gwendolyn knocked on the lab door and guided the blondes inside, then she left us alone.  
"Okay, now it's time for actions. Where's Emma?" Bella asked. I took my badge and leaded them through a few highly-secured corridors. While we were walking I was talking. "It took me some effort to find her. It's a large building, you know. That's the reason why we couldn't do it yesterday, I hadn't found her yet. But now I have." I stopped at the safety-door and said. "Here she is." And then we entered the room.


	8. Chapter 7

_Emma's POV_

It had been 10 days now, I was locked up in this giant tank with water. Using my power was useless, I would only freeze myself. And I still can't believe he betrayed me for some money and that he had left my mother behind, unknowing what was going on. He had always been the best father I could have dreamt of, and know he had this. I wanted to get out of here, but how? Was there nobody outside that missed me? My mother, Elliott, Rikki or Cleo or Lewis? Or Ash maybe? At this point I'd even be glad to see Zane, or just some other familiar face.  
I'm wondering what that guy of yesterday was doing here. Until now I had only seen Dr. Denman and those to gorilla's that were already with her 2 years ago. He even didn't seem surprised to see as a mermaid. What did he know?  
I saw the door opening and saw that guy of yesterday, followed by two girls. What? The second girl is Rikki. I laughed and waved at her. Finally someone I knew! I saw the guy climbing up the latter to the cover of the tank, he opened it and I swam to the top of the tank. "Hallo, don't worry, we're here to free you." He said at me, then he looked at Rikki. I did the same and saw her also climbing up the tank.  
She laughed at me. "Hi stranger, long time no seen. Be careful 'cause it's gonna get hot in here." She made her hand to a fist and the water began to steam. It took her only a minute to dry everything up. And I got my legs back for the first time in days. This just felt so good!  
I climbed out of the dry tank and we skulked out of the building with the boy's help he stayed there to cover us. We ran to the canal and the two other blondes dove immediately into the water. I hesitated a moment. What about that strange girl? Rikki's head came above water. "What are you waiting for? Don't worry, Bella knows." I looked a second around to make sure nobody saw us and dove into the water. I say Bella under water, as a MERMAID? Whatever, my tail reappeared and we swam off to Mako.

"What happened here?" I asked Rikki when we entered the cave. "There's so much changed. I barely recognize it." Rikki nodded. "Yeah, Cleo and I went through some stuff the past year. We'll tell you later. Now we've got to hurry to get to the cliffs. They'll need us there." "Who?" I asked, following her to the exit of the cave.  
We came nearby the lagoons and Rikki whispered. "Em, make sure Denman and Harrison don't see you. You too, Bella." We nodded. I had no idea what they were up to, but I guess I'd best do what they say me to do. I could hear Denman and Bennet argue.  
Denman: So why did you want to see me?  
Bennet: What do you mean? You let your secretary call me to make an appointment here.  
Denman: I did not! (sounded insulted)  
Bennet: but then who did?

_Zane's POV_

Now my dad had asked the question, it was my time to appear. "Hi dad. I did." I said enthusiastic. He'd get so mad for this, and I would enjoy it! "Zane! Why would you do something like that?" my dad asked surprised. "To avoid you of achieve your plans. This island is way too valuable to change it into an amusement park."  
"And you've planned this all alone?" My dad wanted to defy me. "No." I answered dry. "Cleo played the secretary." I smiled at my father to provoke him. I wanted him to get furious. At that moment everybody appeared in a half circle around Denman and my dad. I looked around: Cleo, Lewis, Bella, Emma, Rikki and Will. Yep, we were complete.  
Denman saw Emma and got scared. "Wh…What…What is she doing here?" "We just rescued her from your giant tank." Bella said. "And who are you?" Denman asked. "A mermaid." Bella answered.  
I saw Denman's and my father's expression and had really had to try to not laugh out loud. This was so funny! I winked at Emma, she smiled back like she could guess my thoughts. I never really thought she'd be happy to see me. Or at least, she seemed to be.  
Slowly we moved closer to my dad and Denman. The closer we came, the more anxious Denman became. This wasn't apparently something she'd counted on. My dad on the other hand didn't give a kick. He just looked me right in the eyes. "What is this Zane?" he asked. "What does it look like?" I asked back. "I don't know what you're up to. But as soon this act is over, you're so gonna regret it." He threatened, but I didn't care. My dad always tried to punish me, but I stopped caring a long time ago. We were still getting closer, Denman now just looked totally frightened. She started to step back, to the edge of the cliff.  
I saw what was going to happen and wanted to scream to Denman she had to get away of the cliff, but right then, she fell. A loud scream and a groan followed. I ran to the edge and 5 meters (or 16-17 feet) lower I saw lying a body, it didn't move. Oh no, this wasn't supposed to happen. We just wanted to scare them, not hurt them. We're not murderers, we're not bad people.

_Will's POV_

We all ran to the edge of the cliff, I hoped it wasn't a deep one. Wrong guess apparently! What were we gonna do now? We didn't mean to them any harm. Lewis pulled my sleeve and I followed him down the cliff (we climbed down). I just looked how Lewis tried to hear her breath. She shook his head. Then he put his index and middle finger to her neck. She shook his head again. "I'm afraid she's death. I can't feel a heartbeat." He said sadly. I knew what this meant. We all did.  
We killed Dr. Denman.


	9. Chapter 8

_Cleo's POV_

I saw Lewis shaking his head, twice. But how was this possible? We didn't mean to, we just… I can't… no, this isn't true. I saw Lewis's mouth moving. He was saying something, but I couldn't hear it. It was all woozy in my head, it ached. I didn't know what to do.  
Suddenly I collapsed and started crying. I felt 4 arms trying to help me standing up. But I couldn't. I heard people say my name, but I didn't react. I couldn't see a thing, I could on only cry.

_Rikki's POV_

What did we do? Even I didn't know what to say right now. I didn't know what to do. Lewis said she was death. A second later Cleo fell and started crying. Bella and I tried to catch, but she let herself fall. I said her name, but she didn't react. She just sat there, crying all the tears she had. While none of us didn't know how to react, she just let her emotions go, she let her tears go. I admired her at that moment. She could at least do something, I couldn't do anything.

_Zane's POV_

I saw Cleo collapsing and Rikki trying to comfort her. I saw Lewis and Will down the cliff, with Denman's body. I saw Emma and Bella. The two blondes who just met were standing there, holding each other's hand, probably trying to understand what just happened. I saw my dad, we ran to me and punched me right into my stomach and collapsed.  
I felt his anger, now I suddenly cared about that he was going to punish me. I deserved it. He pulled me up on my hair and screamed. "You see, what your games did? She's death Zane. You've killed her, you're a MURDERER!" I felt my tears on my cheeks. "This was never meant to happen. We just wanted to scare her off. She stepped off that cliff herself, it's not that we've pushed her or anything!" I tried to defend myself and my friends.  
Then I felt 2 arms separating me and my dad. It was Bella. "Oooooh… Hold it, you two. We've got more important things to do. We've got to get Denman's body back to the mainland and I'm gonna call Joe. Maybe he knows what we can do. Up till then you two are gonna cut this shit! Got it?" Woow! I didn't know she had that much guts to go in against my dad!

_Emma's POV_

45 minutes later we got the body to the boat and we all went back to the mainland. The next few hours, were chaotic. Bella called Joe, Harrison called the cops, and I called my mother to let her know I was alright. The cops interrogated us all.  
I told them a story my friends and I had made up, during the our trip back from Mako. Denman had captured me, I had no idea why. My friends had found out the truth and they had saved me. Then we went to Mako Island to celebrate my release, but Denman had followed us there. When I was running away I went passed the cliffs and later heard a scream. Apparently Denman had fallen down.  
We didn't say anything about Mr. Bennet for Zane's sake and he promised us he'd keep our secret. We told the police we had contacted him after we got back. It sounded a good story and the police officers seemed to believe it.

The next day my mother and Elliott came home: I was so glad to see them again. Mom asked me what happened. I told her Denman, the doctor who died by accident on Mako Island, captured me, but that I didn't know why. To Elliott I told the truth. He had found out my secret 3 months ago, when we were at Venice. He saw my tail, just before I was able to shut the door behind me. Since then he had been very protective about me, to make sure nobody else would find out. I told Elliott saw my tail 3 week ago, also just by accident. Apparently he had called Harrison Bennet to capture me and Denman had helped him. My dad took off with a lot of money and left me and my family behind.

A few days later, my friends and I were having a sleepover at Bella's place and the boys were welcome as well (she has so nice parents). They asked the same question as my mother: of course I told them the truth about my father, and I told them Elliott had found out the secret too. Actually I was glad I didn't have to lie to him anymore. And I was glad I was home with my family again. And with my friends!  
But now, I thought, it's my turn to ask some question: who was Will? Why was Bella a mermaid too? What happened to the cave, and to the JuiceNet? For hours they told me stories about things that happened the past year. Rikki's café and her break-up with Zane, Will's sister Sophie, a geologist named Ryan, Bella's transformation in Ireland, Will who found out the secret, Lewis's adventures in the US and they ended with an amazing story about the water tentacle and the comet.  
"I can't believe I had to miss all that crazy, exciting stuff." I complaint. "It's not fair." "Yeah, Bella and I got a little history lesson about you, Rikki and Cleo as well. About Denman, Miss Chatham, Max, Charlotte, the hunt of Zane before he knew." Will reacted. I nodded. Those were pleasant memories. Then Zane crossed my mind. "I hope Harrison is not gonna be too harsh on Zane. He did help us." Rikki laughed. "Yeah well, even though I dumped him. He's still a good guy on the inside, somewhere deep down." We all laughed.

– _The End – _

**A/N: I hope you enjoyed my story. Thanks for reading it anyway. Reviews are welcome!**

**XX majobloem**


End file.
